Kdrama Feminist
England
This review may contain spoilers
NON-SPOILER OVERVIEW: I stand by my huge love for the first 3/4s of this drama. Though I was disappointed by the end, a large part of that disappointment came from the start being so good. Because despite the cliches, it's not a bad ending or anything like that. Against other romcoms I think it's above average, it just feels worse because of what came before. I still recommend it too! For the friendships, for the fluttering romance, for the unconventional story, for the way it feels like I'm watching real people. It's heartfelt and sweet but do be warned that the show you begin watching will not be the show you finish watching. Prepare yourself for averageness creeping in at around ep 12? 13? and you'll be fine!
SPOILERS BELOW!
This review was so hard to write so to solve this confusion I'll just go by the trusted method: LISTS!
Things Done Well:
- JI HO (mostly). I related really heavily with Jiho at the beginning of the drama making me immediately attached. Plus her refreshing habit of speaking her mind so bluntly but not unkindly was literally the most innovative thing this drama did in regards to typical female kdrama leads so, props to them. I faltered a little when her big dream turned out to be love not writing but I realise that's just a personal thing so I won't judge much for that. I faltered MORE when her personality as established seemed to up & disappear 3/4 into the season? Why? Where did my Jiho go and who left this generic imposter in her place? Disappointing doesn't begin to cover it.
- SOO JI. Flawless. Perfect. Loving. Sexy AF but also cute AF. The duality of woman. We love to see it. Enjoyed her growth so so much from being v closed off & afraid of commitment to fully falling into it. From being afraid to catch her dreams because of her mum to daring to *because* of her mum. Unlike Jiho, she loses none of her personality and characteristics once she's in a relationship. Thank god.
- SE HEE. I'll just say it. Sehee's idea of a relationship/marriage - boundaries, respect, open communication and support & minus the guilt, expectations & empty promises that could lead to bitterness later - is exactly my idea of a relationship. I loved him from the moment he told Jiho's mum he wouldn't promise to protect her and it did not diminish the entire show. He's a little odd but I found that hugely endearing. Here's a personal ty from me to Sehee for now having someone to refer to when anyone asks me about my ideal man. Just throw in some of Sang Goo's dorkiness and I'll be hook, line & sinker.
- FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. These are women who unfailingly love, support and trust one another. No pointless drama. No high tension. No boring bitchiness. When I think of my friends I think of the kind of easy companionship and in-jokes that these three have and any scenes involving the trio were my absolute favourites.
- AN "ADULT" STORY. No I don’t mean x-rated lol. For once I watched these adults and felt like I was watching real adults and not (as many romcoms usually have) hormonal teenagers in adult bodies.
- HO RANG X WON SEOK. (mostly). Because they love each other they refused to see or talk about their incompatibility until it literally grew too big and awful to ignore. I really liked it because I believed their relationship and how it progressed. I say mostly because I'm unsure about their conclusion... I'm not against them getting back together, I just wish if that was their endgame they had broken up earlier in the drama so we had more time to watch them grow. As it stands, their break up this time was literally no different to any other break up except now Ho Rang has a chart. Wow. Growth.
Things Done Bad:
- Jiho & her characterisation falling off the face of the planet. Literally this was the worst thing the drama did because it made the finale boring. It also made me realise how much of the drama is built around how refreshing Jiho & her friends & Sehee are and with her gone it left the puzzle incomplete and me unsatisfied.
- Reduced Trio appearances. Like I said above, the trio and their scenes together were the best parts of the drama and towards the end the trio's screentime together pretty much disappeared. I HATED IT.
- The whole stalker storyline. I'll just link to my post about my thoughts on that mess: https://mydramalist.com/profile/kdramafeminist/feeds/WAN22I3
- Jiho's inner monologue going from through-provoking & interesting to nonsensical and pretentious.
- A story that began as something unique and avoiding cliches eventually devolving into the exact cliches it was avoiding. LETS NUMBER THEM!
1. FL speaks her mind? Nope, lets just have her being ~vague~ bc cliche!
2. Open communication between the couple? Nope, let's just have them not have a normal conversation outta nowhere and for no reason bc cliche!
3. Couple breaks up because their life goals don't match and realise love doesn't always mean marriage? Nope, lets have them back together after like a month with literally nothing changing regarding their individual life goals bc cliche!
4. ML is an introverted, dorky type and that's fine? Nope, let's give him a pointless, macho, hero scene to prove he's worthy as the lead! Bc cliche!
5. Current FL and ML's ex get along because the ex has completely moved on in life so working together is reasonable? Nope, let's have Jiho turn down the job offer because she chose "love" even those there was no tension on-screen between any of them, bc cliche!
Overall, I'm glad I watched it! I enjoyed more than I didn't but sadly its missteps means it won't be going into my favourites or mentions lists. The drama as a whole might not have stolen my heart, but individually it gave me amazing characters that 100% did & that's a compromise I'm fine with!
SPOILERS BELOW!
This review was so hard to write so to solve this confusion I'll just go by the trusted method: LISTS!
Things Done Well:
- JI HO (mostly). I related really heavily with Jiho at the beginning of the drama making me immediately attached. Plus her refreshing habit of speaking her mind so bluntly but not unkindly was literally the most innovative thing this drama did in regards to typical female kdrama leads so, props to them. I faltered a little when her big dream turned out to be love not writing but I realise that's just a personal thing so I won't judge much for that. I faltered MORE when her personality as established seemed to up & disappear 3/4 into the season? Why? Where did my Jiho go and who left this generic imposter in her place? Disappointing doesn't begin to cover it.
- SOO JI. Flawless. Perfect. Loving. Sexy AF but also cute AF. The duality of woman. We love to see it. Enjoyed her growth so so much from being v closed off & afraid of commitment to fully falling into it. From being afraid to catch her dreams because of her mum to daring to *because* of her mum. Unlike Jiho, she loses none of her personality and characteristics once she's in a relationship. Thank god.
- SE HEE. I'll just say it. Sehee's idea of a relationship/marriage - boundaries, respect, open communication and support & minus the guilt, expectations & empty promises that could lead to bitterness later - is exactly my idea of a relationship. I loved him from the moment he told Jiho's mum he wouldn't promise to protect her and it did not diminish the entire show. He's a little odd but I found that hugely endearing. Here's a personal ty from me to Sehee for now having someone to refer to when anyone asks me about my ideal man. Just throw in some of Sang Goo's dorkiness and I'll be hook, line & sinker.
- FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. These are women who unfailingly love, support and trust one another. No pointless drama. No high tension. No boring bitchiness. When I think of my friends I think of the kind of easy companionship and in-jokes that these three have and any scenes involving the trio were my absolute favourites.
- AN "ADULT" STORY. No I don’t mean x-rated lol. For once I watched these adults and felt like I was watching real adults and not (as many romcoms usually have) hormonal teenagers in adult bodies.
- HO RANG X WON SEOK. (mostly). Because they love each other they refused to see or talk about their incompatibility until it literally grew too big and awful to ignore. I really liked it because I believed their relationship and how it progressed. I say mostly because I'm unsure about their conclusion... I'm not against them getting back together, I just wish if that was their endgame they had broken up earlier in the drama so we had more time to watch them grow. As it stands, their break up this time was literally no different to any other break up except now Ho Rang has a chart. Wow. Growth.
Things Done Bad:
- Jiho & her characterisation falling off the face of the planet. Literally this was the worst thing the drama did because it made the finale boring. It also made me realise how much of the drama is built around how refreshing Jiho & her friends & Sehee are and with her gone it left the puzzle incomplete and me unsatisfied.
- Reduced Trio appearances. Like I said above, the trio and their scenes together were the best parts of the drama and towards the end the trio's screentime together pretty much disappeared. I HATED IT.
- The whole stalker storyline. I'll just link to my post about my thoughts on that mess: https://mydramalist.com/profile/kdramafeminist/feeds/WAN22I3
- Jiho's inner monologue going from through-provoking & interesting to nonsensical and pretentious.
- A story that began as something unique and avoiding cliches eventually devolving into the exact cliches it was avoiding. LETS NUMBER THEM!
1. FL speaks her mind? Nope, lets just have her being ~vague~ bc cliche!
2. Open communication between the couple? Nope, let's just have them not have a normal conversation outta nowhere and for no reason bc cliche!
3. Couple breaks up because their life goals don't match and realise love doesn't always mean marriage? Nope, lets have them back together after like a month with literally nothing changing regarding their individual life goals bc cliche!
4. ML is an introverted, dorky type and that's fine? Nope, let's give him a pointless, macho, hero scene to prove he's worthy as the lead! Bc cliche!
5. Current FL and ML's ex get along because the ex has completely moved on in life so working together is reasonable? Nope, let's have Jiho turn down the job offer because she chose "love" even those there was no tension on-screen between any of them, bc cliche!
Overall, I'm glad I watched it! I enjoyed more than I didn't but sadly its missteps means it won't be going into my favourites or mentions lists. The drama as a whole might not have stolen my heart, but individually it gave me amazing characters that 100% did & that's a compromise I'm fine with!
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